Sensex, Nifty remain sluggish; Metal, FMCG drag

Key Indian benchmarks remained sluggish in late morning session, with losses of around 0.25%. Sentiments remained downbeat with the report that India’s merchandise exports dropped 1.12 percent in month of October 2017 and trade deficit widened to $14018.83 million during the month under review as against $11134.48 million in October 2016, the highest in nearly three years. Weak Asian markets along with selling in Consumer Durables, Metal and FMCG stocks, too weighed on the sentiments. However, the markets managed to trim some of their losses, taking support from President Ram Nath Kovind’s statement that the introduction of Goods and Services Tax (GST) was a milestone and the new regime has reduced barriers between states, creating a more formal economy. Some support also came with the private report stating that the decision to lower GST rates on over 200 items could help pull down retail inflation by 20 basis points from the current levels driven by lower food and beverage prices.

On the global front, Asian markets were mostly trading in red following the negative lead from Wall Street amid lingering uncertainty about the outlook for US tax reform and the overnight fall in crude oil prices. Back home, in scrip specific development, California Software Company touched the roof after the company inked a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to acquire a majority stake in Singapore based Cordite which owns Infinia Services and Solutions DMCC (Infinia) providing E commerce IT solutions.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 32862.60, down by 79.27 points or 0.24% after trading in a range of 32816.06 and 32944.94. There were 14 stocks advancing against 17 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in mixed; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.10%, while Small cap index was down by 0.12%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Consumer Disc up by 0.23%, Realty up by 0.22%, Auto up by 0.21%, Capital Goods up by 0.20% and IT up by 0.19%, while Metal down by 1.86%, Basic Materials down by 1.21%, FMCG down by 0.96%, Consumer Durables down by 0.71% and Utilities down by 0.51% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Hero MotoCorp up by 1.24%, TCS up by 1.19%, Tata Motors - DVR up by 0.73%, Maruti Suzuki up by 0.53% and Asian Paints up by 0.50%. On the flip side, ONGC down by 2.53%, Sun Pharma down by 2.47%, Coal India down by 1.70%, ITC down by 1.48% and Tata Steel down by 1.20% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, retreating from a six-month high growth in September, India’s merchandise exports stood at $23098.18 million, down by 1.12 percent in month of October 2017, primarily due to a decline in shipments of products like textiles, pharmaceuticals and leather. Also, trade deficit widened to $14018.83 million during the month under review as against $11134.48 million in October 2016, the highest in nearly three years and mainly because export growth contracted for the first time after more than a year.

As per the data released by the Commerce Ministry, exports declined by 1.12% to $23098.18 million in October 2017, as compared to $23360.61 million in the same month a year ago. In Rupee terms it was down by 3.59 % to Rs 150325.95 crore in October 2017, as compared to Rs 155926.73 crore during October 2016. Cumulative value of exports for the period April- October 2017-18 was $170286.55 million as against $155344.40 million, registering a positive growth of 9.62 % over the same period last year. In Rupee terms it was up by 5.63 % to Rs 1097858.68 crore from Rs 1039297.59 crore. 

Non-petroleum and Non Gems & Jewellery exports in October 2017 were valued at $16604.63 million against $16202.27 million in October 2016, an increase of 2.48 %. Non-petroleum and Non Gems and Jewellery exports during April-October 2017-18 were valued at $124281.02 million as compared to $111556.32 million for the corresponding period in 2016-17, an increase of 11.41%.

Imports during October 2017, increased by 7.60 % to $37117.01 million as compared to $34495.09 million in October 2016, while in rupee terms it was up by 4.91 % to Rs 241562.31 crore from Rs 230246.81 crore in October 2016. Cumulative value of imports for the period April- October 2017-18 was $256434.21 million as against $209834.98 million, registering a positive growth of 22.21 % over the same period last year. In rupee terms the cumulative imports was Rs 1653435.01 crore, up by 17.77 % from Rs 1403911.51 crore in the same period last year.

Oil imports during October, 2017 were valued at $9286.74 million which was 27.89 % higher than oil imports valued at $7261.23 million in October 2016. Oil imports during April- October, 2017-18 were valued at $56252.00 million which was 20.23% higher than the oil imports of $46788.46 million in the corresponding period last year. Non-oil imports during October, 2017 were estimated at $27830.27 million which was 2.19 % higher than non-oil imports of $27233.86 million in October, 2016. Non-oil imports during April- October 2017-18 were valued at $200182.20 million which was 22.78 % higher than the level of such imports valued at $163046.52 million in April- October, 2016-17.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 10158.70, down by 27.90 points or 0.27% after trading in a range of 10141.40 and 10175.45. There were 23 stocks advancing against 27 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were BPCL up by 2.73%, HPCL up by 2.27%, Ambuja Cement up by 1.47%, Indian Oil Corporation up by 1.40% and TCS up by 1.31%. On the flip side, Hindalco down by 2.66%, ONGC down by 2.58%, Sun Pharma down by 2.46%, HCL Tech down by 2.28% and Indiabulls Housing Finance down by 2.18% were the top losers.

Asian markets were mostly trading in red; Hang Seng decreased 231.36 points or 0.79% to 28,920.76, Nikkei 225 decreased 226.35 points or 1.01% to 22,153.66, Taiwan Weighted decreased 56.53 points or 0.53% to 10,630.65, Shanghai Composite decreased 20.73 points or 0.6% to 3,408.82, KOSPI Index decreased 8.69 points or 0.34% to 2,517.95 and FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI decreased 1.8 points or 0.1% to 1,731.81.

On the flip side, Jakarta Composite increased 8.23 points or 0.14% to 5,996.52.